Please refer to the original article while reading this. A scan is availble here : http://dekiruhito.com/tetsugaku/images/Tetsu7.jpg

From here on, we’ll thoroughly analyse the playing of tetsu, whose work with the bass adds colour to L’Arc~en~Ciel’s sound. The newly released [SMILE] adds song after song to a string of eight publicized albums. This time, tetsu himself paid close attention while playing in order to faithfully repeat his fingering methods for us. This method of playing comes “straight from tetsu”.

– tetsu style fingering points

It can be said that the greatest special feature of tetsu’s fingering is the way he does a lot of movement from the side position. Evidently, some sliding of the frets is required to achieve this distinct swell. This implies a difference of as much as two octaves from normal playing level, so this playing style can be said to have a pitch of its own.

The finger positioning itself might be called “one fret, one finger” but this is mostly unconscious, since it varies a lot when playing by ear. tetsu often uses the sound of sus4 cords in his frets, but this requires special movement of the fingers in order not to damage the frets with these unusual strings. It appears that the left hand is quite active, but once we look at the picking of the right hand, it is eye-opening to notice that these actions are few when compared to the frequency of movement of the frets. That is, the left hand makes use of many different finger techniques, such as hammering, pling, and slide. Many of these need to be done with no picking. A fluency with the frets becomes apparent in going from one to the next. This fingering style is becoming established as there is no other like it.

– tetsu style picking

tetsu is characterized by the strength of his picking. Let’s check out tetsu style pick play.

Picture 1 (left):
tetsu’s basic pick holding method is to grip the pick between the thumb and index finger and leave the remaining fingers straight. Also, the pick is in the shape of an onigiri (rice ball) and is up to one millimeter in thickness.

Picture 2 (center):
Down picking hits three strings. In regard to the strings, it seems the pick hits them deeply. Of course, depending on the circumstances, this form is modified when playing by ear.

picture 3 (right):
After vibrating three strings, you should pay attention to the pick’s orbit. After hitting the string, the pick should go directly down as if pushing into the body.

Kuchizuke music :
Uses funky frets. The picking is fairly powerful. Because it can get a bit wild, it’s especially important to keep the unplayed strings held tightly by the left hand to mute them while playing the others. Once you know when to mute the sounds, you can use that skill to keep the rhythm, which would normally be done with the picking. Mostly, it organizes the rhythm. In each bar, the second beat’s bottom sixteenth-note meets up exactly with the base drum. In bars 1 and 3, the fourth beat is in unison with the guitar. Starting from looking at the bass frets, think about building an ensemble in combination with the other instruments. If you can get the sliding pattern in the second bar right, you’ll have a feel for the scope of the song.

Ready Steady Go music :
The frets here have a sound much like a distortion guitar. Once you get a sense of this melody, it is unforgettable. The 8-bar long tone frets inherit a pulsing sound from what we can call the summit of tetsu’s playing talent. In the last bar, even the register changes, going up and down drastically within one octave, curving like a beautiful mountainside. The four strings’ powerful vibrato is long tone, giving optimum nuance even though they are fixed in place. It is necessary to have a grip capable of pushing the strings. It’s obvious that without tetsu’s strong picking interaction and his left hand’s pressing, the sound won’t come out right.

Translated by Natalie Arnold